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PBPRPGEPATING AND PREEZING APPARATUS. No. 399,207. Patented Mar.'5,-1889Iii.

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No. 399,207. Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

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L. PERKINS.

REPMGBRATING AND FREEZING APPARATUS.

Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

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RBFRIGERATING AND FREEZING APPARATUS.

No. 399,207. Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

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L. PERKINS.

REFRIGBRATING AND PREEZING APPARATUS.

Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

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' REPRIGBRAITING AND PRBBZING APPARATUS. No. 399,207. Patented Mar. 5,1889.

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lhaiTun dTaTes PATTTNT LUFTl'b PERKINS, Ol? GRAYS INN ROAD, COUNTY 0FMlDDLlSEX, ENGLAND.

REFRiGERATlNG AND FREEZING APPARATUS.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 899,207, dated March 5,1889.

Application fried May 26, 1888. Serial No. 275,130. May lr, 1S88,No.121;in France May 15, 1888, 1888,110. 5,892; in New South Wales June14,1888, 1To.28,518,nn1lin Brazil October 20, 1888,1101628.

To @ZZ wiwi/iz, TL' may concern-s 15e it known that I, Lorrus PERKINS,engineer, a subject of the Queen oi Great Britain, residingf at oSeaford Street, Grays inn Road, in the county ot Middlesex, England,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hetrigerating andFreezing Apparatus, (for which 1 have received Letters Patent in GreatBritaiml'o. 2,171, dated February 18, 1888; in Brazil, No. 02S, datedOctober 21), 1888; in France, No. 100,607, dated May '15, 1888; inBelgium, No. 81,805, dated May '15, 1888; in italy, No. 253,518, datedJune 2111,1888, in india, No. 121, dated May l, 1888; in New lsouthlVales, No. T25, dated .lune 1l, 1888; in Queensland, No. i114, datedJune 113,

1888, and in YictoriuNo. 5,802, dated June 123,A

1888,) o1? which the 'following is a specification.

lt has bel'ore been proposed to construct i'reezim.,r and refrigeratingmachines of two vessds capable oi' supporting considerable pressure andcommunicating` with one another at the iop through a tube. Into onevessel has been placed a liquid or substance in which a gas has beenabsorbed, (say an ammoniacal solutiozn) and this vessel has been heatedand the gas driven oil' and liqueiied under pressure in the secondvessel, which is kept cool. Subsequently the heated vessel containingthe watert'roni which gas has been driven oil? has been cooled orallowedto cool, andthe pressure being thereby reduced the liquelied gas in thesecond vessel has then again vapor-ized and been reabsorbed by the waterlet in the vessel which was previously heated. The temperature in thesecond vessel containingr the liquefied gas has been i'fherelrvreduced.' Freezingapparatus o1' this kind as heretotmc consirurfted haspossessed many1 deli'eets, and has not come into general use. Whenoverheated, and when colisequently not onliY the but also the water hasbeen driven out from the vessel which is being' heated, it has beenliable to disastrous explosions. it has also required to be made withpumps and valves, or it' of small dimensions has required to be invertedto allow of anv water which may have passed over luto (No model.)Patented in England February 18, 1888, No. 2,471; in India 110,190,607;in Belgium May l5, 1888,110. 31,805; in Victoria .Tune 13, No. '725; inQueensland June 16,1888, No. 494:; in taly June 30,1888,

the second or coolingI vessel being passed back into the lirst orheating vessel. The inode of applying heat to the vessel has also beendefective, and so, also, have been the precautions taken to avoid thepassing1 off of watery vapor from the vessel that is being' heated, andto subsequei'it-l),v insure the ready reabsorption of gas by the liquidremaining in this vessel. 1 remove all these objections. I make theapparatus of a system of hermetically'closed pipes so disposed that anywater or liquid which passes trom the portion of the apparatus that isat tunes heated may separate itself from liquelied at the cooler end ofthe apparatus, and pass back by gravity to the part of the appara-tusthat is being` heated, so that no injuryv can ijiiissil'ily arise to theapparatus i'roin overheating, as any water or liquid distilled over withthe from the boiler or heated end will, when ail ammonia or gas has beendriven from that end, flow back again, and so a continuous circulationwill be kept up, and the onlj,7 evil that could arise would be that theapparatus would then be workingl as a hea-ting apparatus; but theapparatus itself would remain uniiijured and ready to aci as a cooling;apparatus so soon as the heat-ing of the boiler end was stopped and thatend allowed to cool. l also, as hereinafter described, forni the boiler(or that portion of the apparatus which is at times heated) in such amanner as to hinder the passing` oit of wat-ery vapor from it and tofacilitate the reabsorption of ammonia by the water left in it when itis allowed to cool.

1n the drawings annexed l have shown apparatus constructed as abovedescribed.

Figui-e1. is a longitudinal section oi' the apparatus applied tomaintain a low temperature in a room or incloscd chamber. Fig. 2 is avertical cross-section, and. Fig. fi a plan, of the same. Fig. i is anelevation olf the heating apparatus. Fig. 5 a vertical. section, on alargerscale,ot one section or division of the cooling apparatus. lfig.(i is an elevation, partlyv in section, of apparatus for cooling liquidcontained in a bath or tank. Fig. is a plan view of the same. Fig. S isa vertical cross-section through the tank, and Fig. 9 a

cross-section through a portion of the boiler or heated end of theapparatus. Fig. l0 is a cross-section, and Fig. ll a longitudinalsection, of one of the separators by which any water passing into thecooling-pipes is separated from the liquefied ammonia in these pipes andallowed to flow back to the heated end of the apparatus. Fig'. l2 showsa simple form in which the apparatus maybe constructed.

In Figs. l, 2, 3, and 5, A is an inclosed chamber with a door, i3.Vithin the chamber, and just below its roof or ceiling', are closedhorizontal liquefied-gas pipes C. From one end of each ot' these passesIa cooling-pipe, D, to one or other of a series ot' otherhorizontalliquorpipes, E, which are at a lower level than the liquefied-gas pipesC. The liquor-pipes E have a number ot' short vertical pipes, F,descending from them and passing into other horizontal lowerliquor-pipes, G, their lower ends being about the middle of the pipes G.

Through the pipes G are passed heatingpipes Il of smaller diameter, theends of which are by other pipes, H coupled to the two ends of a coil ofpipe, H2, contained in a stove, I. The pipes Il ll and coil H2 containwater and form a closed system for conveying heat from thestove to theliquid contained in the pipes G. An expansion-bottle, H4, of well-knownconstruction, is connected with the pipes Il between the coil IP and thepipes G. \Vhen the apparatus is cold, the expansion-bottle is empty, ornearly so. The water expands when heated, so that if the fire werepushed to the utmost the expansion-bottle would be nearly full; but :forthe expansionbottle the expansion would burst the pipes. Theexpansion-bottle, therefore, serves as a safety device to keep the pipesfrom bursting when the heat applied is abnormal.

The details of construction of this system of hot-water pipes are notshown, as they are well known, and the closed system of hot-water pipeshas been used for applying' heat for a variety of purposes. At Hi (seeFig's. 3 and 4) are valves by which the passage through the pipes Htoany of the pipes H can be closed, while the passage leading through thepipes H to the other pipes, Il, is opened, so that any one of the pipesmay be heated without heating the others; cr all the pipes mig'ht beheated at once.

The pipes C, which are within the cold chamber, have at one end thepipes D passing into them, as above stated, and at their opposite endsare formed, as shown in Fig. 5, with a short vertical trap-pipe, J,passing upward into them. These pipes are closed at the bottom. At thetop they are open and come close to the top of the liquefied-gas pipesC. They have also openings J formed through their sides just above thebottom of the pipes C. Passing' up through the closed bottom of thetrap-pipes J are vertical overflow-pipes K of smaller diameter. Theupper ends of these pipes, which are open,

terminate about at the level of the center of the pipes C. Their lowerends4 are by a descending pipe, K', which has a U- bend formed in it,connected to the pipes E.

The apparatus is worked in the following manner: Each liquor-pipe G isfilled, or nearly so, with a saturated solution of ammonia containingapproximately sut'ticient liquid ammonia to iill the liquefied-gas pipeC. To facilitate the filling of the liquor-pipe G, this pipe has passingfrom it at the top a small pipe closed at its end by a screw-cap, G. Allair can be allowed to pass off from the pipe by unscrewing this cap.NVhen a fire has been lighted in the stove I and the coil H2 heated, thecirculation of heated water setup through the pipes H H can be directedthrough any one or other of the pipes H. As each pipe H becomes heated,it heats the ammonia solution in the pipe G, by which it is surrounded.Slight pressure is thereby generated in this pipe, and one-half of theliquid contained in it is forced up into t-he pipes F and E. Any gasdriven oif from the liquid in the pipe G then has to pass up through thevertical pipes F into the pip'e E and to bubble up through the liquid inthese pipes. Any steam or watery vapor passing' along with the gas willin this way be condensed, and the gas only will pass on to theliquefied-gas pipe As the pressure increases, the ammonia liquefies inthe pipe C, it being kept cold by reason of its being' in the coldchamber. Then all or most of the ammonia has been driven off from thewater in the liquor-pipe G, the iiow of heated water can be shut offfrom the heating-pipe H, which passes through it, and the flow directedthrough another, and so on continuously, each one being in turn heated,and so the fire in the stove I may be kept burning' continuously. Aseach pipe G after being heated gradually cools down, the pressure inthis pipe decreases and a vacuum is formed in its upper part, the liquidammonia in the liquefied-gas pipe C vaporizes by degrees, some of itpasses downward through the short connecting-pipes F into the liquidremaining in the lower part of the pipes G and bubbles up through theliquid to till the vacuum in the upper part of this pipe, and keeps thisliquid agitated, so that the liquid readily reabsorbs the gas and thevaporization of the liquid ammonia goes on freely, and consequently thepipe C is cooled down to a low temperature. If it be desired toaccelerate the reabsorption of the ammonia by the water left in thepipes G, and thereby accelerate the cooling down of the pipe C, thecooling of this water may be accelerated by allowing cold water totrickle over the exterior of the pipes G, or by causing' a stream ofcold water to flow through a pipe passed through them, or may beaccelerated in other convenient way. If when heating any one or other ofthe pipes G the application of heat is carried on for too long a time,and the Water contained in it is vaporized and condensed in. the coldpipe C,

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the liquid-level in these pipes will rise above l the top 'oi' theoverflow-pipe K, and liquid will rise up from the bottom of the pipe Cthrough the trap-pipe .I and pass away by the descendlng` pipe lx", andthrough the U-bend formed in it to the pipe E, and from thence to thepipe (l. Thus if heat be applied for too long a time to any of the pipes(l these pipes will constantly have liquid passing,l back to them fromthe pipes C), and this liquid will be composed of water having ammoniain solution, ammonia solution being of considerably greater speeilicgravity than liquid ammonia, so that water accumula-ting in the pipes Cwill separate itseltl from the liquid ammonia and settle to the bottomot' these pipes. Conseq nently, even when the application ol' heat tothe apparatus has been continued Afor along, time, thc apparatus willstill remain capable ot producing cold in the pipes C whenever theliquor-pipes E and (l are allowed to cool. Another ad vantage is that ifthe liquorpipes are heated directly by tire heat all chance is avoidedof the pipes being,l overheated and accidents happening in conscquence.'lhcre will always be liquid passing hac-lt to the pipes, and a.circulation ot heat will thereby be inaintained through theliquelical-gas pipes C.

A solution ot ammonia is not the only solution which .may be used in theapparatus. Other solutions which will act in the same way may be used.lt' the solution is of such a nature that the liquid which is the lastto distill over is lighter than the liquid which distills over tirst,then the pipes l K need not he used; but the pipe li might be carriedup, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, to act simply as an overtlowtrom the upper part ot the pipe (l.

ln order that the ammonia-gas passing' to the pipes (l may hecomparatively cool, the pipe l) is, as shown, surrounded by awaterjacliet, l'hthrough which a iiow of water is maintained.

Chambers or rooms cooled by appara-tus formed in the above manner may beutilized l'or a great variety olil purposes. They may, l'or example.y heused for storing' meat, or as rool cellars ['or breweries, or may beused for the im'mnlacture ot ice. ln this latter ca-seit is convenientto form the chamber or room with an inner chamber kept at a considerablyliwer temperature than the outer room. In the inner room metallic pailsor other vessels containing water may he set to freeze, and when frozenand reduced to a very low temperature may be .removed and stored in theouter chamber. l have found that when water is in this way submitted toa low temperature, when absolutelyT at rest and undisturbed in any way,blocks of perfectly-transparent ice are obtained as clear as glass andtree l'rom all air-bubbles.

ln the apparatus shown at Figs. 6 to 'l1 two pipes, (l, are innnersed inbrine or uncongealable liquid in a tank, M. .Each pipe C is,

as in the apparatus just described, connected by a pipe, D, with otherpipes, E lil G'. Similar provision also made for heating the pipes. Theyare shown to be heated by three pipes U passing,` through them.Provision is also made ifor allowing` watery solution which mayaccumulate in the pipe G to pass back into the pipeG.

The action oi' the appara-tus the same as above described. 'lhe brinecooled in tank lil can be made to circulate through vessels required tohe cooled or utilized in a variety of ways. In this apparatus, also,lhave shown part D of the pipe I) from one pipe C made to surround par tol' the pipe D from the other pipe (l, so that at this point there maybean interchange ot' temperature between the cold gas passing' from onepipe and the warm gas passing1 into the other.,

l do not restrict myself to the use ot' ammonia solution, Other solutionmighthe used instead oi' it.

The apparatus may be used for cooling` and retrigerating' in a greatvariety et' ways. ll` or example, it may, when constructed on a smallscale, beemployed for cooling' ordinary ieesates or refrigerators, thecold pipes (l being placed within the upper part et' the sai'c and theremainder on the outside. ln this case the heating' of the pipes G 'mayvery conveniently be etleeted by gas-burners placed below them, so thatto keep the interior of the safe cool it would only be necessary tolight these burners for a time once or twice a day; and, it desired,automatic apparatus might he used to shut oil the gas immediately thatthe pipes G were suliticiently heated.

llig. 'l2 shows a simple iorm in which the apparatus may beconstructeal. in this case the apparatus is formed of one tube closedat. its ends, set up vertically, and having two bends in it. The end ofthe pipe descending 'from the u pper bend is the part Cto be cooled. Ithas inserted into it pipes .l and l to separate saturated solution fromliquid ammonia and to convey any solution in the lower extremity olf thepipe back io the lower bend, which is the part ot the pipe to which heatis applied The lower bend is Alilled with ammonia solution, and whenheat 'is applied to the bend the ammoniavaporiaes and is liquefied inthe part C. lfhen the lower bend is allowed to cool, the waterremaining,` in it is drawn up into the end of the pipe which rises fromthe bend by reason et a vacuum being,` then formed in this end. Theliquid ammonia vaporizes and bubble up through the water and is rapidlyabsorbed by it. The val'iorization of the ammonia, therefore, goes onrapidly. and intense cold is produced at the extremity C of the pipe,where the liquid ammonia contained. lf when applying heat to the lowerbend of the pipe the application et heat be continued for too long atime, the water contained in it will be vaporized and condensed in theend C, and will pass baclc again through TOO ITO

the separator-pipes J and K, as in the forms of apparatus previouslydescribed, to the point at which heat is being applied, so that at thistime a continuous circulation is kept up and all danger :f romoverheating of the apparatus is avoided. 'hen the solution vaporized :inthe part G of' the apparatus is of such a nature that the more readilyvaporizable liquid is of greater specific gravity than the liquid whichis last Vaporized, then the pipes J and K are unnecessary for conveyingback this liquid from the part C to the part G, but can be led backthrough an overflow-pipe Whenever the liquid in the part C rises to toohigh a level, as previously explained Having now particularly describedand ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner thesame is to be performed, I declare that what l claim isl. Thecombination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of thecooling-chamber A,

a system of hermetieally-elosed pipes extend ing into the chamber andoutside thereof, the heaters for the pipe system outside of the chamberAand at. a level lower than that of the pipes Within the cooling chamber,the overflow-pipes leading from that part of the pipe system to whichheat is applied to the pipes Within the cooling-eh amber A, and openingtherein above their bottoms, whereby the ammonia solution isautomatically separated from the liquefied ammonia and carried back tothe heating part of the pipe system.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of acooling-chamber, A, a system of hermetieally-closed pipes leading intosaid chamber, and also arranged outside thereof, the heaters for thepipe system outside of the cooling-chamber and below the level of thepipes therein, the overflow-pipes extending` from the pipes outside thecoolingchamber to the pipes within said chamber and opening thereinabove their bottoms, and a trap-pipe, J, surrounding the end of theoverflow-pipe, through which the ammonia solution separated from theammonia is carried.

rlhe combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of thehorizontal liquorpipe G, (filled with a solution of ammonia or likesolution,) the short connecting-pipe F, rising from about the mid-levelof the liquorpipe G, the upper liquor-pipe, E, into which the pipe Fexten ds, the chamber A, the coolingpipe D, extending from theliquor-pipe E into the chamber A, the liquefied-gas pipe C Within thechamber A, at a higher level than the liquor-pipe G, and theoverflow-pipe K, conneeting the liquefied-gas pipe C to the liquorpipeG, whereby liquid is conveyed from the liquefied-gas pipe C to theformer when the liquefied-gas pipe C becomes nearly filled Withliquefied gas. 1

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbef'ore set forth, of thehorizontal liquorpipe G, (filled With a solution of ammonia or likesolution,) a second horizontal liquor-pipe, E, the short connecting-pipeF, rising from about mid-level of the pipe G into the liquorpipe E, theliquefiedgas pipe C at a higher level than the liquor-pipe G, thecooling-pipe D, passing from the liquor-pipcE to the liquefied-gas pipeC, a trap-pipe, J, rising up into the liquefied-gas pipe C, and providedwith an opening at the top and with an opening, J near the bottom, andthe overflow-pipe K, passing from the interior of the pipe J back to thepipe E. l

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of thehorizontal liquorpipe G, the liquefied-gas pipe C at a higher level thanthe pipe G, the pipe D, connecting the former with the latter, and anoverflowpipe extending into the liquefied-gas pipe C above the lowerlevel thereof and connecting it with the pipe G, whereby the ammoniasolution in the pipe C is separated from the liquid ammonia andautomatically carried to the pipe G.

G. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of thehorizontal liquorpipes G, (filled with a solution of ammonia or likesolution,) the liquor-pipes E, the pipes F, rising from about mid-levelof the pipes G and extendinginto the pipes E, the liquefiedgas pipes Cat a higher level than the liquorpipes G, the cooling-pipes D,connecting the former with the latter, and. a Water-jacket, L,surrounding each pipe D.

7. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of twohorizontal liquorpipes, G, (filled with a solution of ammonia or likesolution,) liquor-pipes E, arranged over the liquor-pipes G, the pipesF, conn eeting the liquor-pipes E and G, the liquefied-gas pipes C, andthe cooling-pipes D, connecting the pipes C with the pipes E, said pipesD having part of the length of one pipe passing through part of thelength of the other pipe.

LOFTUS PERKINS.

Vitnesses:

WILLIAM RoXBURY,

24 Southampton Bil/Minga London. WALTER J. SKERTEN, y 17GracecmrchStreet,Lomloa, E. C'.

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